SECURITIZATION OF FINANCING RECEIVABLES

3 Months Ended

Feb. 02, 2020

SECURITIZATION OF FINANCING RECEIVABLES

SECURITIZATION OF FINANCING RECEIVABLES

(12)  Securitization of Financing Receivables

The Company, as a part of its overall funding strategy, periodically transfers certain financing receivables (retail notes) into variable interest entities (VIEs) that are special purpose entities (SPEs), or non-VIE banking operations, as part of its asset-backed securities programs (securitizations). The structure of these transactions is such that the transfer of the retail notes did not meet the accounting criteria for sales of receivables, and is, therefore, accounted for as a secured borrowing. SPEs utilized in securitizations of retail notes differ from other entities included in the Company’s consolidated statements because the assets they hold are legally isolated. Use of the assets held by the SPEs or the non-VIEs is restricted by terms of the documents governing the securitization transactions.

In these securitizations, the retail notes are transferred to certain SPEs or to non-VIE banking operations, which in turn issue debt to investors. The debt securities issued to the third party investors resulted in secured borrowings, which are recorded as “Short-term securitization borrowings” on the balance sheet. The securitized retail notes are recorded as “Financing receivables securitized – net” on the balance sheet. The total restricted assets on the consolidated balance sheet related to these securitizations include the financing receivables securitized less an allowance for credit losses, and other assets primarily representing restricted cash. Restricted cash results from contractual requirements in securitized borrowing arrangements and serves as a credit enhancement. The restricted cash is used to satisfy payment deficiencies, if any, in the required payments on secured borrowings. The balance of restricted cash is contractually stipulated and is either a fixed amount as determined by the initial balance of the financing receivables securitized or a fixed percentage of the outstanding balance of the securitized financing receivables. The restriction is removed either after all secured borrowing payments are made or proportionally as these receivables are collected and borrowing obligations reduced. For those securitizations in which retail notes are transferred into SPEs, the SPEs supporting the secured borrowings are consolidated unless the Company does not have both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the SPEs’ economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses or the right to receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the SPEs. No additional support to these SPEs beyond what was previously contractually required has been provided during the reporting periods.

In certain securitizations, the Company consolidates the SPEs since it has both the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the SPEs’ economic performance through its role as servicer of all the receivables held by the SPEs and the obligation through variable interests in the SPEs to absorb losses or receive benefits that could potentially be significant to the SPEs. The restricted assets (retail notes securitized, allowance for credit losses, and other assets) of the consolidated SPEs totaled $2,490 million, $2,895 million, and $2,137 million at February 2, 2020, November 3, 2019, and January 27, 2019, respectively. The liabilities (short-term securitization borrowings and accrued interest) of these SPEs totaled $2,442 million, $2,847 million, and $2,092 million at February 2, 2020, November 3, 2019, and January 27, 2019, respectively. The credit holders of these SPEs do not have legal recourse to the Company’s general credit.

In certain securitizations, the Company transfers retail notes to non-VIE banking operations, which are not consolidated since the Company does not have a controlling interest in the entities. The Company’s carrying values and interests related to the securitizations with the unconsolidated non-VIEs were restricted assets (retail notes securitized, allowance for credit losses, and other assets) of $638 million, $491 million, and $790 million at February 2, 2020, November 3, 2019, and January 27, 2019, respectively. The liabilities (short-term securitization borrowings and accrued interest) were $609 million, $465 million, and $743 million at February 2, 2020, November 3, 2019, and January 27, 2019, respectively.

In certain securitizations, the Company transfers retail notes into bank-sponsored, multi-seller, commercial paper conduits, which are SPEs that are not consolidated. The Company does not service a significant portion of the conduits’ receivables, and therefore, does not have the power to direct the activities that most significantly impact the conduits’ economic performance. These conduits provide a funding source to the Company (as well as other transferors into the conduit) as they fund the retail notes through the issuance of commercial paper. The Company’s carrying values and variable interest related to these conduits were restricted assets (retail notes securitized, allowance for credit losses, and other assets) of $1,441 million, $1,079 million, and $1,745 million at February 2, 2020, November 3, 2019, and January 27, 2019, respectively. The liabilities (short-term securitization borrowings and accrued interest) related to these conduits were $1,370 million, $1,015 million, and $1,632 million at February 2, 2020, November 3, 2019, and January 27, 2019, respectively.

The Company’s carrying amount of the liabilities to the unconsolidated conduits, compared to the maximum exposure to loss related to these conduits, which would only be incurred in the event of a complete loss on the restricted assets, was as follows in millions of dollars:

	February 2, 2020
Carrying value of liabilities	$	1,370
Maximum exposure to loss		1,441

The total assets of unconsolidated VIEs related to securitizations were approximately $41 billion.

The components of consolidated restricted assets related to secured borrowings in securitization transactions follow in millions of dollars:

	February 2		November 3		January 27
	2020		2019		2019
Financing receivables securitized (retail notes)	$	4,487	$	4,395	$	4,573
Allowance for credit losses		(9)		(12)		(10)
Other assets		91		82		109
Total restricted securitized assets	$	4,569	$	4,465	$	4,672

The components of consolidated secured borrowings and other liabilities related to securitizations follow in millions of dollars:

	February 2		November 3		January 27
	2020		2019		2019
Short-term securitization borrowings	$	4,416	$	4,321	$	4,464
Accrued interest on borrowings		5		6		3
Total liabilities related to restricted securitized assets	$	4,421	$	4,327	$	4,467

The secured borrowings related to these restricted securitized retail notes are obligations that are payable as the retail notes are liquidated. Repayment of the secured borrowings depends primarily on cash flows generated by the restricted assets. Due to the Company’s short-term credit rating, cash collections from these restricted assets are not required to be placed into a segregated collection account until immediately prior to the time payment is required to the secured creditors. At February 2, 2020, the maximum remaining term of all securitized retail notes was approximately seven years.